March 06, 2014

Canada gets failing grade on antibiotic use in animals

Canada’s lack of progress in regulating veterinary use of antibiotic drugs has been called “a continuing international and national embarrassment” in light of dire warnings about the growing danger of drug resistance, says a report in the Canadian Veterinary Journal.

The report – prepared by a group that includes representatives from academia, veterinary medicine and industry – found that Canada has not closed a regulatory loophole that allows the importation, sale and use of drugs that have not been approved by Health Canada despite more than a decade of study on the issue, resulting in a grade of D.

The top-priority recommendation – a national system to monitor use in animals – fared slightly better, with a C grade.

The lack of effective monitoring and control of antimicrobial drugs in animals in Canada is part of the global problem of antimicrobial resistance, which can make widely used drugs ineffective and raises the spectre of a ‘post-antibiotic age’ in which minor wounds or infections could be deadly.

“It would be nice to see a few As on there,” said John Prescott, a pathobiology professor with the Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph and co-chair of the committee that prepared the report.

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Canada’s lack of progress in regulating veterinary use of antibiotic drugs has been called “a continuing international and national embarrassment” in light of dire warnings about the growing danger of drug resistance, says a report in the Canadian Veterinary Journal.

The report – prepared by a group that includes representatives from academia, veterinary medicine and industry – found that Canada has not closed a regulatory loophole that allows the importation, sale and use of drugs that have not been approved by Health Canada despite more than a decade of study on the issue, resulting in a grade of D.

The top-priority recommendation – a national system to monitor use in animals – fared slightly better, with a C grade.

The lack of effective monitoring and control of antimicrobial drugs in animals in Canada is part of the global problem of antimicrobial resistance, which can make widely used drugs ineffective and raises the spectre of a ‘post-antibiotic age’ in which minor wounds or infections could be deadly.

“It would be nice to see a few As on there,” said John Prescott, a pathobiology professor with the Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph and co-chair of the committee that prepared the report.